Dunno source via the interweb
Star Princess
IMO : 9192363
Build : 2002 by Ficantieri, Monfalcone, Italy, nr 6051
A lot of people who know say that all the cruiseships that are build in the last couple of years very much look alike and are in principle just hugh apartment buildings floating in the sea, coupled to some necessary appliances that actually make it a ship. During the design of this ship some people must have thought to make this ship a bit more special than all the others floating around.
So what did they do: They gave it a hugh bridge with black tainted windows on the front so it looks like its wearing waaaay too large sunglasses, Like that Jordi LaForge character from Star Trek TNG, but on stilts.
And on the stern they gave it a big hugh handle, like a superlarge briefcase! Samsonite: eat this!!
Dunno source via the interweb
No, seriously, what were those guys thinking??
Update (16-04-2009)
And I have found another one in this genre!! Actually there are more vessels out there looking like the one above, must be some kind of standard-design but the one below has some extra added nonsense.
Diamond Princess
On first sight she looks the same as the Star Princess of above but there are 2 distinctive differences:
A) She got some strange looking horizontal pipes hanging of her funnel surrounding thing which have no apparent function: jet-engines?? air-scoops?? look-out points?? I have no clue……but to stay in the Star Trek mood: they must be the Warp-drives!!
B) They moved the handle on the stern to a less ergonomically position.
And as a small bonus I present to you the vessel which Mc Ovronnaz mentioned in the comments below:
Ventura
He/She thinks it’s gorgeous but I’ll leave it up to you personally to make up your own mind about it.
Thank you!!!
I’ve been thinking the same thing for years. An assault on the eyes.
its to me the most beautiful cruise ship in service. i always go to see her when she comes to Le Havre, France. Impressive, futurist, not commun. Far better from basics costas.
@ Karl: everybody is entitled to his/her own opinion: please don’t hold it against me ;-D
Obviously, you’re an idiot! The bridge is large that way, so the crew can see the whole vision field ahead them, plus the extremes to see what’s goin’ on behind them. In my opinion, it’s probably the best field of vision I’ve ever seen!
I don’t know if you’re the same guy who criticized the style of the NCL cruiseships, but if you are… You’re completely MAD, AWFUL, SICKENING and WITHOUT GOOD TASTES!
Thanks for the compliments!! I’m trying to take over the world this way, wanna join???
Oh, and adding: the rear “hugh handle” it’s a gallery for the passengers. I don’t know for real what is that, but the later gallery looks better; it’s mounted right behind the funnel and it’s lower, much better located. Take a look on the brand new VENTURA. It’s GORGEOUS!!
The ships with the handles are refered to by the crews as the grocery carts.
Grocery carts…….LOL…..now that’s a good one!!
“jet-engines?? air-scoops?? look-out points?? I have no clue”
They are functional turbine generators.
When it comes to assessing the relative appearance of ships, you stated it correctly; “I have no clue”.
You might wanna search the web to find out what these things are really for before you start accusing other people for their supposed cluelessness.
My first through when seeing ‘star princess’ was “wow, it’s a huge shopping cart!”
The bit at the back is called ‘Skywalkers’ and it’s a disco/nightclub/viewing lounge thingy. The bridge may look cr*p but it gives excellent all round vision and it has heated windows which is nice when its snowing heavily.
We loved the skywalker and the views that it gave. I couldn’t believe that anyone would classify this ship as an ugly ship. It is a great ship.
the jet engines you refer to are for asthetics only! sorry they have no other purpose.well thats what the ships agent in port chalmers nz told me.